GST appeal limitation and Tribunal non-functionality allowed fresh appellate remedy after statutory deposit and continued stay protection.

Where a statutory GST appeal was dismissed as time-barred while the Appellate Tribunal was not yet functional, the Court, relying on the CBIC clarification and a co-ordinate Bench ruling, treated the practical inability to file the Section 112 appeal as material. It held that once the Tribunal's President or State President assumes office, the petitioner may pursue the appellate remedy on making the statutory deposit. The Court also noted that the statutory stay under Section 112(9) would continue until the appeal is decided in accordance with law.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner, whose statutory appeal under the Chhattisgarh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 had been dismissed as time-barred, should be granted liberty to file a fresh appeal when the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal had not yet been constituted and the departmental clarification on limitation applied.

Analysis: The petition challenged the appellate order passed under Section 107(1) of the Chhattisgarh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 dismissing the appeal for delay. The dispute was considered in the light of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs order dated 03.12.2019 and the co-ordinate Bench decision dated 09.05.2024, both recognising the practical difficulty in filing appeals under Section 112 when the Tribunal was not yet functional. The Court accepted that once the President or State President assumes office of the Appellate Tribunal constituted under Section 109, the petitioner should be permitted to invoke the appellate remedy after making the statutory deposit. The Court also noted that the statutory stay contemplated by Section 112(9) would continue to operate until the appeal is decided in accordance with law.

Conclusion: The petitioner was granted liberty to file the appeal before the Tribunal after statutory deposit once the Tribunal became functional, and the appellate authority was directed to decide such appeal strictly in accordance with law.

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